Foreclosure numbers down drastically due to higher home prices
IF YOU are looking for bargains on foreclosed houses, you are not alone and are probably having a harder time finding them. When the housing market crashed in 2007, a…
Category: Business
Covering the week’s most noteworthy business news impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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Can the IRS disregard compromise settlement because of bankruptcy?
THE situation we envision in this discussion is where you have an offer in compromise which has been accepted by the IRS then you file for bankruptcy relief. Do you…
Employee terminated for refusing to violate the law, awarded $4.5 million by jury
DENISE Steffens was a building manager for Regus Group, PLC, a company that rents out staffed office spaces. After Ms. Steffens raised concerns about possible employment violations by the company,…
Average itemized deductions
FOR those of you who itemize, the table below should be of special interest. For those of you who play the odds (you know what I mean), this table should…
Bankruptcy is not always your fault
FACING serious debt problems can be depressing to a lot of people. It may seem like the end of the world. You may feel angry, depressed, guilty- or a combination…
Additional remedies for injured employees (Going beyond the Workers Compensation claim)
“ After filing a work comp claim, the employee experiences an adverse employment action, such as demotion, decrease in pay, decrease of work hours, loss of benefits, assignment to unfavorable tasks,…
Medical expenses revisited
MOST of us take medical expenses for granted because we have to spend more than 7 ½ % for 2012 (10% for 2013 if you are under 65) of our…
Is your Short Sale agent doing a good job for you?
SHORT selling your home is such an important and stressful step in your life and it’s the springboard into your future so you wont have anymore sleepless nights. It is…
Creditor’s refusal to foreclose is not violation of discharge
DEBTOR walks away from his residence because it is under water with no equity whatsoever then files for Chapter 7 relief. The house is worth $300,000 but the mortgage owed…
Are you living on the financial edge every month?
I KNOW that the current economy has caused a lot of financial problems for a lot of people. Most families are struggling financially every month and are living paycheck to…
When is an employment termination illegal?
Q: I WORKED in a company for more than 10 years. A new supervisor was recently transferred to my department. This person and I do not get along. Last week,…
How much are the banks penalized for failing to help homeowners stay in their homes?
THERE has been a lot of fines and penalties that the banks have assessed from all these claims of foreclosure abuses, including bungled loan modifications and wrongful evictions of borrowers…
Do you, or does someone you love, have diabetes?
NEARLY everyone knows someone who is directly or indirectly affected by diabetes. Not only can diabetes be difficult to manage, but it can also increase a person’s risk for other…
Chapter 13: How to pay debts on limited income
CHAPTER 13 is the section of the US Bankruptcy Code that allows individuals in the United States to reorganize their finances. If you are having difficulty paying your debts (credit…
A Fully Charged Venture
IT’S one of the biggest pet peeves in the world. Imagine traveling for business or leisure and rummaging through your suitcase, only to realize that you’ve forgotten your cell phone…
Jury awards over $21 million to employee discriminated for disability
Q: CAN an employee be legally fired for job abandonment due to absence caused by an illness? Should the employer provide the employee with reasonable accommodations? A: California’s Fair Employment…
10 tips in deducting charitable contributions
1. YOU may deduct donations to qualified organizations. Qualified organizations include corporations or foundations organized in the US for religious, charitable, educational, scientific, literary, or prevention of cruelty to children…
Short sale lenders paying off your liens and giving cash back as much as $5,000 or more
WHAT I will discuss on the second portion of this article will be about HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative) which will typically offer a qualified seller $ 3,000 at closing…
Discharging income taxes in bankruptcy: Part 2
LAST week, we established the fact that back due income taxes can be discharged in bankruptcy, despite the popular belief that this was not possible. We said that there are…
Chapter 13 can be last hope for families facing foreclosure
FILING Chapter 13 bankruptcy is often a last resort for people in foreclosure when no other options exist. A lot of homeowners usually put off making this decision for a…
Me-Too’ evidence allowed in sex discrimination claim
Q: MY boss at work would slap or touch my buttocks, make comments about my breasts, or other parts of my body, and tell me to wear shorter skirts. He…
Part B – Business
THIS fiscal cliff legislation includes lots of tax changes; accordingly, I summarized the provisions for simple reading. Last week’s Part A dealt with individuals while this week’s Part B deals…
Changes in loan modification programs for 2013
Homeowners Bill of Rights IN JULY, California enacted the major pieces of legislation, which were introduced by Attorney General Kamala Harris. These provision, which will take effect January 1, 2013,…
Discharging income taxes in bankruptcy
MANY people have the mistaken belief that back due income taxes cannot be discharged in bankruptcy because a debt owed to the Federal and State government cannot be wiped out….
Have you depleted your savings to pay debts?
LIKE most people, you’ve worked hard and have done your best to pay all your bills on time. But in life, at one time or another, all of us get…
Small Part, Big Results
FILIPINOS support other Filipinos. However, sometimes, that could be a bad thing. Just ask Rob Bautista Villeza, who is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Office of the United…
Small Part, Big Results
FILIPINOS support other Filipinos. However, sometimes, that could be a bad thing. Just ask Rob Bautista Villeza, who is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Office of the United…
Should property owners be liable for injuries committed by criminals in their premises?
MING Qu and Ying Wu were from China and enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) to study electronic engineering. They were fatally shot while sitting in a parked…
Part A2 –Individuals
THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT OF 2012 Tax breaks for education expenses American Opportunity Higher Education Tax Credit extended The American Opportunity Credit, which can be worth up to $2,500…
12-year old Pinoy flies 1979 Piper plane
For 12-year-old Jervin Barcenas, getting on an airplane is one thing. However, being able to fly one is an entirely different story. A student of Saint Anne Catholic School in Santa…